Iron Jawed Angels (2004)

Alice Paul and the women of the 1917 Women's Suffrage movement fight for future generations right to vote and run for office. Sacrificing their health, marriages and the limited amount of freedom they had, women were imprisoned and force fed after picketing and hunger-striking against war-time president, Woodrow Wilson; but survived to see the results of their efforts.

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Good movie with important message9/14/2004 12:00:00 AM by hockeywench7

I think it's hard for most to remember that women have had the right to vote for less then 100 years. If nothing else this movie may help to renew interest in an issue that most like to conveniently forget. Hillary Swank and Frances O' Connor give wonderful performances as Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. And Anjelica Huston is subtle and formidable as Carrie Chapman Catt. And I loved that Inez Millholland was included-she was an important part of the movement and Julia Ormond is fabulous. This movie is beautifully shot and masterfully edited. It also has a modern soundtrack with great remixs by Sarah McLachlan, Mandalay and Lauren Hill. One criticism though-they didn't do a very good job of showing a true representation of the time and effort it took to achieve the 20th amendment. They made it seem like a few women staged a hunger strike and BAM...votes. So many women gave their health, lives and blood for the movement...they deserve more. There are ways to show time progression, they didn't choose to. More time was given over to the relationship between the suffragettes but it is very well done.

See it with your daughter!3/6/2004 12:00:00 AM by meer1237

The story of the women's suffrage movement in America during the period 1912- 1920 moves along crisply, and the acting is of high caliber. This is not your grandmother's civil rights history; it is contemporary, relevant and occasionally funny. These are powerful, intelligent women who launch a quixotic campaign

to win voting rights against the opposition of most men, including President

Wilson, and not a few women. Set against a historical background that includes Prohibition and the outbreak of World War I, the film doesn't shy away from

leaders are depicted graphically and would not be suitable for young viewers. The 2000 Presidential election was a wake-up call about the need to exercise

our constitutional rights. This film reminds us never to take those rights for granted.

A story that needed to be told2/16/2004 12:00:00 AM by wllatimer7

Excellent movie with a few flaws ( music from a different time period, romance that wasn't necessary to the plot). It shows how the fight for the right for women to vote in the USA was a very tough one. People like to talk about "God given rights" but often rights have to won in a "war" by people that are willing to put everything on the line. These brave souls make life better for everybody. It seems obvious that women should have the same right to vote as men, but in the times represented by this film it was only obvious to a few. Hillary Swank and the others in the cast showed the gritty determination that it took to fight for voting rights. Rights aren't given to us. Let's not forget that!

If you are looking for History, this is not it.8/29/2005 12:00:00 AM by michaeldoerr4

There may be history somewhere in this made for TV movie, but many of the facts that you can independently verify are false or misleading. It appears more to be just a story of how someone wishes to remember the struggle for women's suffrage.

It is particularly inaccurate with it's drumbeat against the Republicans of the time. The 19th amendment passed against fierce Democratic opposition. The vote in the House where the Republicans controlled 240 vs 192 was 304 for, 89 against. The vote in the Senate was 56(R-36, D-20) for, 25 against (R-8, D-17).

The states that ratified the amendment were virtually all Republican. Almost no Democratic states ratified it.

One of the reasons that Teddy Roosevelt was defeated by Wilson was that TR and his party had adopted Women's Suffrage as a plank. It is also why Republicans steadily took seats in both houses during the battle.

Hear them roar!2/17/2004 12:00:00 AM by =G=8

"Iron Jawed Angels" is an HBO historical biopic/docudrama which turns the lens on Swank who delivers a sterling performance as Quaker, suffragist, and women's right activist Alice Paul during her campaign to secure the 19th Constitutional amendment. Director Katja von Garnier, who gave us the wonderfully hip girl-power cult flick "Bandits", takes on the daunting task of delivering an entertaining film about a somewhat dry, esoteric subject and a relatively unknown character (as history goes) and succeeds. Sometimes whimsical, sometimes intense, spritzed with humor and drama, and packed with zingers and maxims, "Iron Jawed Angels" may be a chick flick but no man can deny nor should fail to appreciate the grace and beauty it delivers. (B+)